The Road Chief’s ‘Summer Eyes’ Single Is a Synth-Driven Daydream

From Mark McGuire's debut full-length, 'All My Love,' under his other alias

Since leaving his post as resident cosmos explorer in the now-defunct ambient trio Emeralds, Mark McGuire has largely trained his eyes on the vast expanses of guitar-based drone. But while he’s not scaling that rocky terrain, he also has a project called the Road Chief that allows him to go a little more celestial. Today, he returns with a new single “Summer Eyes,” which comes in advance of his debut full-length, All My Love, under that other moniker.

Like McGuire’s last excursions with Emeralds, “Summer Eyes” unfolds like a daydream, with loosely associated synth lines slowly coalescing into vibrant latticework. It’s still cloaked in ambience, but it’s far and away the catchiest thing that McGuire has recorded to date.